still broke; sometimes knitting

Day: October 28, 2012

Okay, a baby sweater. But. It’s finished. And I knit it. So it totally counts.

Also, it is adorable. If I do say so myself. This just might be one of my favorite finished baby cardigans: the stripes stripe just perfectly, the colors are bright and perfect for a fall birthday, the truck buttons are awesome for a little boy (or, I imagine, a little girl with an interest in trucks), without being all in-your-face gender normative.

The pattern was fantastic: Budgie by Grumperina. Obviously, I went with buttons instead of a zipper … because, well, I had to be honest with myself. Although I really liked the idea of a zippered cardigan, if I waited until I bought and sewed in said zipper, this kid would be about 21 before he got his birthday present.

So buttons it was.

I did a bit of fiddling around with the button bands and finally decided to reknit using the recommended (and so tidy!) i-cord bind off. At first, I wasn’t sure about the contrasting bands, but seeing it finished — I love them! It’s a baby sweater, so what’s the harm in a little mismatch fun?

To avoid all the unsightly bunching I’d been fighting on the fronts, I went up a couple of needles sizes (to a US9/5.5mm) — basically, the only needle even close to the US7/4.5mm I’d used for the body that I could find unoccupied — and made sure to pick up every other stitch. Then, for extra stretchiness, I knit one row before binding off on the button (green) side. On the button hole (orange) side, I picked up the same number of stitches and knit two rows in stockinette before binding off. I added 1-stitch i-cord button holes every so often.

Just enough give and everything lies nicely flat. Phew. This is going all the way to Switzerland and it needs to get in the mail soon …

The shop ladies at my LYS — where I found the aforementioned awesome buttons — fawned all over this sweater’s cuteness. I felt very proud, showing of my knitterly handiwork to some proper Southern knitters, discussing buttons options in all seriousness on a busy Saturday afternoon. One of them recommended these, and they’re perfect.

So neat and tidy! The i-cord really was worth the extra bit of time and effort. Now, I just hope it fits.